5个源于古代的英语习语和习俗

别那么趾高气扬的

Ever wonder where this saying comes from?

你曾经想过这一句的出处吗?

In medieval times, knights and nobles would often ride huge warhorses that were specifically bred for fighting and strength. These horses, called Destriers, often wore just as much plate and mail as their owners that often cost as much as a good set of armor did. When two knights would ride out to parlay they’d tell each other “Step down from thy Destrier” so they could speak as equals.

在中世纪时期，骑士和贵族经常会骑着专门为战斗和力量繁育的高大战马。这些马被称作为军马(Destrier)，经常和它们的主人一样身着盔甲，盔甲的价格也和一套人穿的好甲胄相当。当两个骑着军马兜风的骑士见面的时候，他们会对对方说“请下马”，这样他们就能平等的对话了。

Eating Humble Pie

低头谢罪/忍气吞声

Everyone’s heard the saying to “Eat Humble Pie,” but what exactly does it mean?

所有人都听过“Eat Humble Pie”，但是这句话到底什么意思呢?

Well a Humble Pie is a pie made up of a game animal’s minced up “pluck,” which is the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys – usually within deer.

Humble Pie(内脏派)是一种用打猎获得猎物的内脏(心、肝、肺、肾)切碎后做成的派，通常用的是鹿的内脏。

The reason this is referred to as a “Humble” pie is because it is an adaption of the term “Umble,” which itself is an adaptation of the French word “Nomble,” meaning “Deer’s Innards.”

之所以会将之称为“Humble”派，是因为它是从“Umble”这个单词的演变来的，而“Umble”本身又是从法语单词“Nomble”演变来的，在法语里，它的含义是“鹿的内脏”。This type of pie is considered to be lowly and humbling, especially when compared to a good cut of venison, and therefore is why eating humble pie is a statement reflecting someone’s humility.

人们认为这种馅饼比较卑贱又廉价，特别是当和一块好的鹿肉对比的时候，因此这也正是为什么Humble Pie能够反映出某人的谦卑。

Living Over The Brush

未婚同居

The term “Living Over The Brush” is used to describe an unmarried couple living together. This is derived from the ancient marriage practice of jumping over a broom to cement a marriage that was unable to be blessed by a religious official. After the exchanging of vows, the couple would hold hands and jump over a broom or brush handle together that was held by the two most respected elders in the village.

“Living Over the Brush”曾经被用来描述那些没有结婚的情侣们住在一起。这是演变于一种古老的婚礼习俗，当婚姻无法被宗教事务官员所祝福，人们会通过跳过扫帚来牢固婚姻。在新人交换过誓言之后，村里最受尊敬的两位老人会一起握着扫帚或者刷子的两端，新人则挽手一起跳过它的柄部。

This practice is still used to cement the coming together of two people in Pagan hand-fasting ceremonies.

在异教徒中为了庆祝新人结合的德鲁伊式绑手礼中仍在沿用这一习俗。

The Right-Handed Hand Shake

右手的握手礼

In most cultures, a right-handed handshake is the standard greeting, be it a greeting between colleagues or friends. This generally originates from medieval times to signify to someone that you aren’t armed, as most fighters would be right-handed swordsmen, and by using the right hand to shake it showed the other party you weren’t going to go for your weapon and cut them down.

在大多数文化中，用右手来握手是标准的问候礼节，也是同事间或朋友间的问候方式。这个礼节基本上是源自于中世纪时期向他人表示自己并没有携带武器的方式，由于当时大多人都是右撇子的剑士，用右手来握手就是向其他方表明，自己不打算用武器和他们拼杀。

As a side note, Scouts and Girl Guides shake hands with their left hand as a visual metaphor for their motto of “Always be Prepared.”

作为边注，童子军和女童子军的座右铭是“时刻准备着干架”，作为视觉上的隐喻，成员则会用左手来握手。

Clinking your glasses together and saying “Cheers!”

碰杯并说“干杯

The practice of touching your glasses together in cheers originated from Ancient Greece, which was a time where there was every chance someone was trying to poison you. By clinking glasses together you were spilling a bit of your own drink into the other person’s, and vice versa, so if that person was trying to poison you they were poisoning themselves too. So therefore cheers-ing your glasses together became a sign of trust among two parties.

大家把酒杯碰在一起这个习俗是源自古希腊，在那时人们有很多机会被下毒杀害。一起碰杯的时候，你可以将自己杯子里的酒洒到别人的酒杯中，反过来亦然，因此如果有人想要下毒杀死你，他自己也难逃厄运。因此，碰杯成为了双方信任彼此的象征。

If you’re paranoid like me, then you’d just carefully watch where someone pours the drinks from and never eat or drink something unless you’ve seen someone else already do it.

如果你多疑如我，那你就得悉心观察某人是从哪儿倒出来的酒，而且除非其他人都喝了酒吃了东西，自己是什么也不会碰的。